Jackcrutchie Mermaid AU
by angry-ace
Summary: Crutchie is a prince who nearly drowns and Jack saves.
1. Chapter 1

Crutchie was leaning over the edge of the castle overlooking the ocean, maybe a little too far. He was looking at the calm water that surrounded the island and taking in the beautiful sunlight reflecting off of it. He saw a flash of shadow underneath the waves but it quickly disappeared and he wrote it off as a trick of the light.

Crutchie's mother had given birth the night before to a healthy baby boy. With all the excitement in the house he was happy to have a moment alone with his thoughts. He felt shade fall over him and turned around. Behind him stood Oscar and Morris Delancey, two of the castle guards.

"Heya fellas. What're you doin' here?" Crutchie asked nervously.

"Sorry about this crip. It's not quite honest work but I take care of the guy who takes care of me and your father's givin' Morris and I good money for this job." Oscar said vaguely.

"What're you sayin' Oscar?"

Morris snatched Crutchie's crutch and pushed him to the floor, answering the question in his own way. Crutchie put his hands over his exposed body to protect himself in case the Delanceys intended to hit him again. Oscar grabbed his thin wrists and shackled them together with a pair of manacles he was carrying.

"Help," Crutchie screamed. "Please help me."

Oscar kicked him in the head. "No one can hear you. No one's comin' to help you. Didn't you notice it was empty when you came up here?"

Tears sprung to Crutchie's eyes from the pain of the kick. He was angry at himself for not being more aware and not being able to fight back better. Morris grabbed his disabled leg and started dragging him away. Pain was blinding him.

"Katherine," Crutchie screamed for his sister's help. "Kath help! Where are you?" she didn't answer him. She was surely inside the castle and clearly was unable to hear him.

He grabbed at the cobblestones to impede Morris' dragging but a nail snapped off painfully on a rock and he stopped from the shock and pain of the missing nail. The skin of his back was being torn up by the stones. Morris and Oscar were dragging him towards the docks. As they passed over the wooden slats of the dock splinters of wood entered his flesh and worsened his distress. Oscar pulled Crutchie onto a fishing boat and he hit his head as he was dragged aboard.

Crutchie looked up and saw Snyder, the jailer of the castle dungeon, the Refuge. He was known for being quite the sadist, the more common workers in the castle referred to him as Snyder the Spider.

"Oh good you've arrived. Get us sailing boys, while I speak with Prince Charles." Snyder took the crutch from Oscar.

"Mr. Snyder what's goin' on?" Crutchie stammered fearfully.

"Oh you dumb crip," Snyder sneered leaning casually and Crutchie's crutch. "You're useless, your family doesn't want you anymore. You see your father doesn't want a crip to rule his kingdom when he's no longer able to, so he hired us to take care of you."

"My father wouldn't do that to me." Crutchie choked out.

"Sure he would, you're just a useless crip with a gimp leg. Now he has a good son, untainted by your defect." Snyder turned his back on Crutchie tossing his crutch to the ground. Snyder took the wheel from Oscar who went to assist Morris with the sails. There was a strong wind blowing and they were soon too far out from the island for even a strong swimmer to swim back, let alone a disabled teenger, still Crutchie couldn't allow for himself to be murdered by the men.

Crutchie reached out for his crutch and struggled to stand. He wobbled over to Oscar Delancey and knocked his legs out from under him with the crutch. Oscar fell but Morris punched Crutchie in the face so hard he lost his balance and fell immediately afterwards. Morris was helping his brother up when Snyder strode over and took the crutch from him.

"You shouldn't have done that little man." Snyder taunted him.

Crutchie cringed, he wasn't sure what Snyder would do to him but he knew it wouldn't be enjoyable. Snyder raised the crutch above his head, his face was a mask of cruelty and malice and he brought it back down onto the teen's ribs. Crutchie screamed.

"Please, please stop," Crutchie coughed.

Snyder didn't listen to Crutchie's pleas and hit him even harder once more. He lifted the crutch and Crutchie was terrified that he would strike him again but instead he snapped the crutch over his knee and tossed it into the water.

"Toss him into the drink boys." Snyder commanded.

The Delanceys picked him up by his shoulders and legs and dropped him bodily into the ocean. For a brief yet insidious moment he was falling and then he slapped the water painfully. His head went under the water and he struggled to reach the surface. While Crutchie used to be a talented swimmer, he lost most of the mobility in his right leg after getting polio when he was twelve. Since then nobody had taught him how to swim with a disability so he never had regained the skill. The exhaustion and agony of the beating as well as his shackled hands made it impossible for Crutchie to reach the surface of the water. He sunk and sunk low in the water and was helpless to stop it.

His lungs burned from the lack of air and his eyes burned from the saltwater they were exposed to. He saw a motion from the corner of his eye. Suddenly strong arms were around him. He gasped for air but inhaled water. He turned to look up at the person grabbing him and was met with a pair of beautiful green eyes. He looked down and saw that in place of legs, the boy had a grey dolphin tail.

 _I'm drowned,_ Crutchie thought, _I'm dead and this is heaven or I'm dying and this is my brain's oxygen deprived hallucination._

The merman did something Crutchie never would have expected, he kissed him. At first Crutchie tried to pull away put the boy but he grabbed his face and didn't let go. Crutchie found that he was able to breathe. A merman's kiss, that's how he was able to breathe. The breaths didn't feel big enough to be healthy. Crutchie noticed that the gills on the merman's neck were flaring and his chest was heaving.

It dawned on Crutchie that he wasn't able to breathe from the kiss, he was able to breathe because the merman was filtering oxygen from the water into Crutchie's lungs. Crutchie could no longer stand the saltwater stinging his eyes so he closed them. He felt the merman pulling him through the water with his lips still connected to Crutchie's. Crutchie opened his eyes and looked to see the face of the boy focused on moving forward, towards what, Crutchie couldn't see. He closed his eyes again.

For a time they simply moved away from the ship that Crutchie had just been thrown off of until finally, they surfaced. The boy pulled away from Crutchie's face, though Crutchie had almost grown accustomed to his lip's presence there, they were not entirely unwelcome. Fortunately the boy still had his arms wrapped around Crutchie and helped to keep him above the water.

The boy broke Crutchie's train of thoughts by saying, "I'm Jack."

"Crutchie," Crutchie replied breathlessly, still stunned by the presence of a merman and from his near death apparently orchestrated by his father.

"What were you doin' in the water?" Jack asked, annoyedly.

"Uh." Crutchie wasn't sure what to say, attempted murder wasn't a frequent part of his life and saying it out loud to Jack felt like making it real.

Jack softened his tone, "S'okay if you don't want to tell me. You can tell me later if you want, or not at all. I'm gonna to take you back to my island. Is that okay?"

"You have an island?" Crutchie asked.

Jack blushed, "It's not my island, I sleep there sometimes is all. My human friends live there."

"Oh. You have human friends?"

"What, did you think we didn't know about you?"

"We don't know about you so I didn't really know if you knew about us." He exhaled, then added, "Yes, you can take me to your island."

Without warning Jack grabbed the chain around Crutchie's wrists and dragged him quickly towards a small island that was rapidly growing larger as they advanced towards it. Jack managed to keep Crutchie's head above the water level for the entirety of the trip, which Crutchie was grateful for. Soon enough, Jack and Crutchie were on the island and Jack was pushing Crutchie onto a sandy beach.

Surprisingly, Crutchie really was not the only human on the island. Jack called out to one, "Les, where's Davey?"

The child, Les jogged over and called out to Jack, "He's at school. It's almost out, I was waitin' for him. He promised to buy me some candy after school."

"I'm sorry Les, it'll have to wait. I need his help."

"With him?" Les gestured at Crutchie.

Crutchie was bothered by his lack of input in a conversation about him so he answered for Jack, "Yes, please help me. I was attacked and thrown off a ship."

Les seemed excited by Crutchie's story. "I'll go get Davey," he promised as he ran off.

Jack propped himself up on his elbows and looked at Crutchie who said, "Thank you for saving me. I'm pretty sure I'd be dead if it weren't for you."

"No need to thank me, it was a pleasure to save someone as good looking as you." Jack touched Crutchie's shoulder. Crutchie blushed as red as a rose and grinned bashfully before being pulled into a dripping wet hug by Jack.

Their moment was interrupted by Les' return with who Crutchie assumed was Davey. "Does someone wanna tell me why Les is dragging me here? This is not the way to get home." He noticed Crutchie's sorry state and muttered, "Oh."

"Davey I'm glad you're here, my friend Crutchie here needs help."

"Of course, he looks like he needs it. My father's back at work but Crutchie can come home for dinner and Sarah and I'll clean him up. Do you wanna join us, Jack?"

"Thanks for the invite, I'll meet you there." Jack pushed himself back into the water and swam away.

Davey chuckled and approached Crutchie. "May I help you up?" he asked Crutchie.

"Please," Crutchie answered.

Davey grabbed Crutchie from around the waist and lifted him up. Crutchie grimaced from the pain but did his best to hide it from Davey. Once on his feet Crutchie wobbled but Davey helped to support him and adjusted his head so that Crutchie could wrap his arms around his shoulders with his hands still chained. As they slowly walked, Davey and Crutchie were able to hold a conversation.

"Thank you for helpin' me. Crutchie apologized, "Sorry for getting your clothes wet."

"It's not a problem. Any friend of Jack's is a friend of mine."

"That's very kind of you. I'se got a question."

"Shoot"

"How's Jack gonna meet us at your place? This is an island, after all. It's not like he can walk on land, right?"

Davey guffawed, "That'd be quite a sight, Jack trying to walk on land. No, Jack can't walk he keeps his tail even when he's out of water, if that's what you'se wondering. The way that Jack can visit us is that this island is very special. It was built so that mermaids and humans could coexist. Our house is on a large dike to keep it out of the water but there are holes in the bottom so that mermaids can pop up in certain spots. Our house has a few holes and Jack stays the night so often that he has a bed in our house." Davey turned to Les, "Hey Les, why don't you go run ahead and tell mom to prepare spots at the table for two more tonight."

"I don't wanna, I wanna stay and get to know the new guy," Les complained.

"You can get to know him at dinner, but only if you go tell Mom he's coming."

"Fine," Les whined.

Once Les had run off, Davey said to Crutchie, "See, Jack kinda had a fling with my sister, Sarah a while back. It was a little thing and didn't last long. Their breakup was mutual and on good terms, though. They're still friends and Jack is basically family now but that's how we know each other."

Crutchie listened as Davey continued, "A few months ago my father was caring for the horse of a family that was out of town. He had the right boots for the job but he'd taken them off to go into the house to get a glass of water and eat his lunch, and he'd left the boots outside. While he ate his lunch his boots were stolen. He'd tried to use one of the owner's boots but the were much too small. He eventually gave up and finished cleaning the horse barefoot. It didn't go well. The horse shifted his weight and stepped on Dad's middle toe, crushing it. When my father tried to pull his foot out the flesh of his toe was pulled off and part of the bone was gone too."

Crutchie gasped, horrified by Davey's story.

They entered a neighborhood and Davey pointed at a house, saying," This one's ours. I'll finish the story later."

Les ran out to greet them and gave Davey a hug. He pulled away and said, "Mom's cooking dinner right now. It's not done and Dad's not coming home until late."

"Thanks Little Brother," Davey smiled, ruffling Les' hair. "Alright I'm gonna go put Crutchie in Jack's bed."

"Thank you," Crutchie said. Davey and Crutchie made their way to the bedroom. They passed through the kitchen and Crutchie's mouth watered at the smell of the delicious meal Davey's mother was preparing. Davey tugged him into a hallway. "Later," He said as Crutchie's head swiveled to look at the food.

"Sorry," Crutchie said as he stepped over a board of wood.

"You don't have to apologize," Davey assured him, "you didn't do anything wrong."

Crutchie looked down at his soggy shoes, still feeling shameful.

Davey opened a door at the end of the hallway that opened up into a room with a bunk bed, a small bed opposing it, and a chest of drawers. Davey freed his head from Crutchie's grasp. Davey took Crutchie's hands and helped him to sit down on Jack's bed.

"Thanks," Crutchie breathed, in pain from the movement but grateful to be sitting down.

Before Davey could respond they heard a scream coming from the hallway and Davey raced out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack looked up from the freshly uncovered hole in the Jacobs' floor, that opened into the ocean, straight into Sarah's eyes.

"Sarah. SARAH! Calm down," Jack shouted to silence Sarah's screaming.

"God damn Jack! You scared me. Don't do that," Sarah's voice replied.

Jack took in his surroundings, Sarah was holding a basket of laundry and Les was carrying an empty pail and some soap. Davey ran into the hallway.

"Oh Jack, it's just you," Davey breathlessly spoke.

Jack pushed himself onto the floor and out of the hole. "S'not just me." He paused. "Jacobses, may I present Miss Medda Larkin, the greatest star in the ocean today. She also knows a thing or two about medical care, she agreed to help Crutchie," Jack gestured at Medda who had just popped out of the hole.

"Pleasure children," Medda greeted them.

Les was staring at Medda's exposed breasts.

"A pleasure," Davey addressed Medda. He turned to Les. "What's wrong with you?"

"Are you blind? She's got no clothes on." Les gaped at Medda.

Davey stepped in front of Les to block his view of Medda. "That's just how merfolk dress. Jack's not wearing a shirt either."

"But I can see her-" David covered Les' mouth with one hand and his eyes with another.

"Let's see your friend Jack," Medda changed the subject.

"He's in your bed Jack," Davey said.

"Right this way Miss Medda." Jack directed her towards the bedroom and he dragged himself there on his belly and tail while Medda crawled with her many appendages.

Jack reached up for the doorknob and they entered the room. Crutchie was sitting up on Jack's bed, just like Davey had promised.

"Hi Crutchie, this is Medda Larkin." Jack pulled himself to Crutchie's side.

"Hello ma'am."

"It's a pleasure to meet you young man. There's no need to worry about your wounds, you're with Medda now."

"Thank you."

Jack quietly kneeled at Crutchie's bedside while he engaged with Medda.

"You're dressed rather fancy for a friend of Jack's," she observed.

"Hey," Jack interjected.

"You know I don't mean anything by it, hun." Medda turned back to Crutchie. "Where does it hurt?" she teased.

"My chest. Sny- a man soaked me with real good with my crutch."

"I see," Medda replied. "Normally I'd ask you to take off your shirt so that I could see your injuries but it appears to me that your hands have been chained together. Care to explain that?"

"Oh, I was chained up before he beat me." Crutchie didn't look Medda in the face when he said this, he seemed sad and ashamed.

"That's horrible," Medda said. "Who could do something like that to a teenager?"

Crutchie didn't know what to say.

"Okay, I'm gonna pull up your shirt to look now. Is that okay?"

"Yes, thank you."

She started undoing the buttons of Crutchie's shirt. "Lift your arms above your chest for me."

Crutchie complied as she finished with the buttons. She pulled the sleeves and sides of his up his arms to get a good look at the fresh bruises now covering his ribs. Crutchie rested his manacled hands behind his neck.

"May I feel your ribs? I need to see if they're broken."

"Feel free." Crutchie granted.

"It's going to hurt," she informed him with concern.

"It already hurts," he scoffed. "Sorry, that was rude. Yeah, you can feel them. Thank you."

Medda pressed her hands against Crutchie's tender bruises, prodding them with her fingers. He winced when she pushed against a painful spot.

She looked up. "You've definitely got some broken ribs hun. You're going to need to do deep breathing and light coughing exercises to help with recovery. Aside from the obvious, were you struck or hurt anywhere else?"

"Yeah um, I got kicked in the head and also I was dragged on my back. I was also wonderin' if maybe someone could help me out with getting a mobility aid. I had a crutch but my attacker snapped it and tossed it into the water."

"Oh hun. Alright I'll take a look at your back, as for the crutch I'm not sure what I can do. I'll take a look at your head after I check your back. Can you please turn around for me?"

"Yes ma'am." He lowered his hand and scooted around so that Medda could look at the huge scrape on his back.

"Oh my Lord." She gaped at Crutchie's back then looked towards the door. Sarah!" she yelled. "Sarah get in here."

Sarah came running into the room. "Yes ma'am. What do you need?"

"I'm gonna need alcohol, soap, water, and bandages to clean his back."

Sarah gasped when she saw his fresh wounds. "I can manage the first three but we don't have bandages." She stammered.

"Ask your mother is she'll mind me tearing up one of her sheets then, if she doesn't please bring it and some scissors."

"Will do Miss Medda."

"I'm steppin out to clean my hands, I'll be back soon," Medda promised.

Jack took advantage of Medda's absence to speak with Crutchie and look at his back. He pulled himself to Crutchie's bedside. When he saw the wound up close he understood why Medda and Sarah were so upset to see it. The skin of his lower back was all but completely gone. It was red and bloody despite his distressed _swim_ in the water. He could see it was deeply painful, yet Crutchie had done his best to hide its affects on him.

Jack put his hand on Crutchie's shoulder but he tensed up, so Jack removed his hand. "Sorry I was just thinkin' about somethin' and I got startled," Crutchie apologized.

"Were you thinkin' 'bout what happened to you?"

Crutchie didn't know how to reply so he just didn't say anything.

"You know you're not a very good liar, Crutchie. Even when you say nothin', I know you's hidin' somethin'."

"I'm sorry."

"No, I's sorry, I don't mean to make you feel bad. You don't owe me a detailed description of your attack, still it would be convenient for you to tell me. It don't have to be now though. Would you please tell me after dinner?" Jack said to Crutchie.

Before Crutchie could respond, Medda returned from cleansing her hands. "You need to move Jack, you didn't touch the wound did you?"

Jack dragged himself towards his previous location. "No Miss Medda, I promise I didn't touch 'is back."

Sarah entered the room with David. She held a heavy looking bucket of water, and a bar of soap. Davey had a bottle of absinthe imported from the coast, scissors, and a blanket.

"Here Miss Medda, we brought you the stuff you asked for," she said while extending the bucket of water.

"Go ahead and set the water and alcohol on the floor and the soap on the bed. Sarah could you please cut up the sheets for bandages, long strips are fine. Young man," she looked at Davey."

"David," he added.

"David could you please find me some safety pins? I'd really appreciate it if you would."

"I'd be happy to ma'am." Davey stepped out of the room.

"Okay I'm gonna clean you back now Crutchie. It's going to hurt more than the ribs. Will you be okay?"

"I'll be okay, thank you."

"Okay here goes." Medda pulled a clean cloth out of the water bucket at started dabbing at Crutchie's pained back. She pulled it away but it came away bloody, she set it back in the bucket. "I'll be pulling out your splinters before I keep going with the water. Maybe you should squeeze Jack's hand, it might not hurt too much now but it will when I use the soap and alcohol."

"May I," he asked Jack for permission to hold his hand."

Jack said "Yes," and he put his hand into Crutchie's. Crutchie blushed and Jack did too.

"S'pose this aint too dramatic since we've already kissed," Jack flirted.

Crutchie blushed bright pink until Medda pulled out the first splinter. Jack could tell every time Medda pulled out a splinter because Crutchie flinched every time she did it.

"Sorry sweetheart, I know it hurts but were almost done." She yanked out a particularly difficult to remove splinter that caused Crutchie to jerk. "There, now we're done."

"You were so brave," she cooed to Crutchie. "Go ahead and take a minute to calm down while Sarah and I prepare to wash your back."

Davey came back into the room with a small handful of safety pins. "Here you go Miss Medda."

"Thank you David," she said, "You may go now young gentlemen."

Davey blushed and then strayed from the room.

"Alright Crutchie, are you ready?"

"Yes ma'am," he whispered, anxious over the fresh pain to soon come to his back.

"Okay, brace yourself," Medda told him.

Crutchie gripped Jack's hand as soon as Medda and Sarah began their washing. The instant the wetted cloth of water was applied to Crutchie's back he winced. Crutchie did his best to hide his pain and he did a good job of it while Medda dabbed at his back. She rubbed the soap onto the cloth as she cleaned out the large scape. When she finished going over it with water she added some of the absinthe to the water in order to dilute it and then dipped the bloody rag in. The water had changed color from clear to pink from the both the dry and wet blood on Crutchie's back becoming watery and soaking into the cloth, then being dipped into the bucket.

Medda dunked the rag back into the solution before wringing it out and bringing it to Crutchie's battered flesh. He squirmed under her touch. Jack could tell that he was itching to stand up and stop Medda from trying to help him, Jack also grasped that Crutchie knew better than to try. Under Crutchie's well masked grimace, Jack saw clearly that he was suffering. Jack gripped Crutchie's right hand as tightly as he was holding his left.

The progress of cleaning Crutchie's wound was painstaking and slow going for everyone involved. Medda had to have patience with a squirming patient, while Jack had made it sound like she was a doctor she was really was a dancer and singer. She owned a theater and all that she knew about treating wounds was from and occasional minor injury to a performer. Sarah was trying to be brave in the face of her anxiety and inexperience, fortunately she was courageous. When Jack first met her she punched a creep in the face, he was kinda into that. Crutchie was clearly tolerating pain that was seriously bothering him and seeing his suffering was upsetting Jack deeply.

Medda put the undiluted absinthe, straight from the bottle onto Crutchie's back. He screamed in pain. Medda immediately pulled away from Crutchie, her hands were shaking.

Crutchie shivered, his eyes were leaking tears. "It's okay you can keep going."

"Are you sure hun?" Medda asked.

Tears started to slip from Crutchie's eyes and Jack leaned forwards to give him a hopefully grounding hug. Jack gripped around Crutchie's shoulders, he was careful around his cracked ribs and scraped back.

"It's gonna be okay. I know it's painful but you're being brave by doing this," Jack whispered into Crutchie's ear.

"It's not the pain." Crutchie's speech was interrupted by a hiccupy sob. "I think, I think my father tried to kill me."


	3. Chapter 3

Jack let go of Crutchie. "Medda, Sarah, may we please have the room?"

"I'm afraid we're not done yet dear," Medda replied.

"I'll finish. Please go enjoy dinna'," Jack requested.

"Okay Jack." Sarah and Medda left. Sarah was walking and Medda was crawling using her tentacles..

Crutchie had dealt with plenty of pain in his life, aches, slaps, punches, tripping, pushing, and sickness. When Crutchie got very sick, and his leg stopped being as strong, he'd been in constant pain. He'd been in stomach churning pain. He was used to being slapped and struck because when his mother was displeased with him she would hit him with all of her expensive rocks studding her fingers like her very own brass knuckles. The Delancey's always picked on him too, before he'd gotten sick they never would've had the audacity to hit a prince, but afterwards he'd meant next to nothing to his father and it hadn't scared them anymore. Maybe his father really had tried to have him killed. Tears rapidly slipped from his eyes at the thought of his father's betrayal.

Crutchie felt lost but then Jack wrapped his strong arms around him, grounding him.

"What really happened to you Crutchie. Tell me the whole story please, I want to understand."

"Okay," Crutchie replied sadly. Jack pulled himself onto the bed so he could listen to Crutchie's story more comfortably. "I'm not really who you think I am," Crutchie revealed. "I only sorta lied, I left some parts out. I'm from the New York kingdom, the mainland. My father is King Pulitzer, I'm Prince Charles of New York."

"You're a prince, Crutchie?" Jack asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I is. My necklace has the royal insignia on it if you want confirmation."

Jack looked down at the necklace on Crutchie's exposed chest for what seemed to Crutchie to be the first time. "I believe you," Jack promised.

"I have and older sister, Katherine. Even though she's older my father won't let her inherit the throne once he dies 'cause she's a girl. When I was a kid he was groomin' me to rule but after I got sick and I stopped bein' able-bodied he didn't want me to rule neither, he never said it but I could tell. My mom just gave birth, it was a boy. I guess since now that he's got a new heir he doesn't want me around anymore. Two of the castle guards attacked me, they tried to kill me and they said that my father'd arranged it. Our castle jailer helped too, he threw me in the water." Jack listened patiently as Crutchie continued his story. "When the Delanceys grabbed me, they're the guards who soaked me, they pier was empty. No one was around. Why wasn't anyone around, Jack?"

"I don't know Crutchie, that's so horrible."

"I do. They wasn't around because my father had arranged for them to be gone. He'd wanted them gone so they's could kill me and no one would know."

"I'm so sorry Crutchie. What'd you want me to do?"

"I don't know. I think I have to go back. If anythin' I can't let Katherine think I'm dead. She's my best friend in the world."

"Okay we'll find a way to get you back home, _**tomorrow.**_ Tonight we all need to rest, we've all had pretty big days today. We can run it by Dave and Sarah and make a plan later. Tonight ya' need to heal. Which means I need to finish cleanin' your back. Okay?"

"Yeah, It's okay."

Jack dragged himself over to the other side of the bed. He lifted the cloth back to Crutchie's skin. Once the wound was clean and dressed Jack and Crutchie decided to head out to dinner. After helping Crutchie get his shirt back on, Jack left the room first, promising to send Davey back to the room to help Crutchie. Under a minute later Davey was in the room helping Crutchie up.

Davey helped Crutchie lower himself into a chair next to Jack. "Now it's time for a proper introduction. Crutchie, my parents." David took his seat.

Davey's father extended his hand for a shaking. "Hi Crutchie, I'm Mayer Jacobs, this is Esther, my w-" Mayer stopped mid-word because Crutchie lifted his hand to shake Mayer's, and he was shocked by the Darby style handcuffs that enveloped Crutchie's thin wrists.

"They um … they um," Crutchie struggled to find an explanation. Everyone at the table stared at him, he could feel his heart beating faster and faster. His throat was gripped with terror and his heart with guilt. He knew that if guest showed up to a meal with his family wearing shackles they'd be thrown in the dungeon, or at least been harassed, Crutchie prayed that David's family didn't do that to him.

"Are you alright child?" Esther asked. "You look as though you've seen a ghost."

"Not a ghost, I seen a mermaid though," Crutchie joked to lighten the situation. There actually was some nervous laughter from around the table. Jack could tell how uncomfortable Crutchie was and he wanted to step in to help but couldn't risk revealing something Crutchie didn't want everyone to know. "I uhhh, I disappointed my fadda and it uh, it got me in trouble. Right now, I wish I had lived up to his expectations."

"I'm sorry Crutchie," Sarah sympathized.

"I don't really wanna talk about myself no more. Sarah d'you have a job or somethin'?"

"I'm a seamstress, I work for Mrs. Harley near the care home."

"That's neat, and you David?"

"I'm just a student for now, I wanna be a herpetologist when I'm older."

"What's that?" Medda inquired caringly.

"A herpetologist studies reptiles and amphibians, I really wanna study snakes."

The conversation began to drift away from Crutchie, which he was grateful for. He struggled to lift his spoon up to his mouth with his shackled hands, and had plenty of soup stains all over his already blood-stained shirt.

"Can I help you with your dinna', Crutch?" Jack inquired kindly.

"No thanks Jack. I can do it myself."

"Are you sure? I can help you

"I said I don't need ya help Jack," Crutchie teased, he knew Jack was only trying to be helpful.

"Alright, tough guy." Jack smiled.

Crutchie smiled back, blushing. "I think-I think you's real swell Jack."

Jack's cheeks grew pink, "Maybe we're uh...talkin' too much."

Mayer replied, "Sarah, go get the cake your mother's hiding in the cabinet."

Esther scoldingly slapped at him with her napkin before indignantly saying, "That's for your birthday tomorrow."

Mayer replied, "Well I've had enough birthdays. This is a celebration, huh?"

"I'll get the knife," David promised, already out of his chair.

"I got the plates," Sarah added with speed.

Jack smiled, a smile which Crutchie returned.

Sarah kissed her father's cheek. "Happy birthday Papa"

Mayer said, "thank you," while Sarah set out the plates.

David reached over his father's shoulder. "Here's your knife," he said.

Esther set up three plates of cake and handed them to Jack, Crutchie, and Medda. "For our visitors," she kindly stated.

As the Jacobses served each other cake Crutchie's thoughts drifted back again to his own family, their dinners were never like this. Usually at Pulitzer family meals there were often other political figures or aristocrats for his father to converse with politically; instead, of holding familial conversations with his wife and children. Crutchie could tell, based on the the Jacobs' family interactions, that the way his family spoke with each other was not normal. Sure, Crutchie spoke lovingly and kindly with Katherine, but never in front of his parents, only in private because they frowned on such interactions.

Jack, Davey, Les, Sarah, Esther, and Mayer were happy to engage in enthusiastic conversation with a familiar audience, leaving Medda and Crutchie out in the cold. Medda tried to bridge the gap by talking to Crutchie. "So how're you feeling, Crutchie?"

"I'm okay. Thank you for helpin' me earlier."

"It was my pleasure son, you're a charming young man."

Crutchie blushed, he wasn't used to being complimented. "Thank you ma'am. So what'd you do when you'se not helpin' injured bipeds who went for an involuntary swim?"

"I'm a performer in the Upper Mesopelagic Zone between this island, which is called Manhattan and an island nearby called Brooklyn. I perform at a theater in the entertainment district."

"So Miss Medda, what're things like under the ocean."

"Oh it's amazing under the water, we don't have the problems that you humans do. We don't have systems that built up the wealthy at the expense of the impoverished, we have no monarchy, our society is classless, we live in harmony with each other and our resources."

"That sounds wonderful Medda, if I'm honest I wish we had something like that."

"You could, the people share a common spirit and goodwill."

Crutchie's cheeks flared red guiltily, his family was the reason that there was no harmony in New York. He felt personally responsible, even if he as a prince didn't have the power to dissolve the monarchy, he could have done a better job of trying to convince his father to do so.

"What's got you blushing young man?" Medda teased sweetly.

"Oh, it's nothin' Miss Medda," he dismissed her concern.

"You sure?"

Before Crutchie had to answer Mayer made a loud declaration. "It's about time for you to go to bed Les." Les whined loudly. "And with all the excitement you've all had today, I think the rest of you should go to bed as well.

"Come on Papa," Sarah complained.

"You heard your father," Esther said, "now run off for bed."

The children groaned loudly. "Actually, before you all go to bed I'll need to teach Crutchie some breathing techniques and it'd be wonderful to have the bedroom to ourselves."

"Alright then. Children, Medda bought you a few minutes but you're still going to bed soon," Esther reminded her kids.

Medda used her tentacles to get out of her chair and onto the floor. She spread them to their full length in order to walk. "I'm going to pick you up now Crutchie, is that okay?"

"Yeah it's good." He did his best to push his chair away from the table so that she could grab him more easily in her strong tentacles.

She wrapped two tentacles around his waist, pulling him close to her. He winced at the force of the pull. Medda used her remaining six tentacles to walk them to David's bedroom. Jack clumsily trailed behind them. Medda used her arms to open the bedroom door, strolling in she gently deposited Crutchie onto the bed. "Roll onto your back please." Crutchie did as she told. "Jack would you please fetch a pillow off of Dave's bed?"

"Of course Miss Medda." He grabbed the pillow and tried to hand it to her.

"Hold on to it for now, son," she gently requested. "Okay," she turned to face Crutchie, "I'd like to teach you some breathing techniques that'll help you heal faster." He nodded. "So what you're gonna wanna do is put the pillow on your stomach and take slow deep breaths." She took the pillow from Jack and rested it over Crutchie's chest. She put his hands on it and then her hands comfortingly over his. "Are you ready?"

"Yes." Crutchie took his first deep breath, and released it shakily. He took another but winced.

When Crutchie had finished his painful breathing exercises Medda and Jack left to go home for the night. Jack was going to stay with Medda because Crutchie was sleeping in his bed, but he promised he'd be back tomorrow. Shortly after, Davey and Les came into the room to prepare for sleep, and soon after that Crutchie was sleeping too.


	4. Chapter 4

Crutchie awoke to water dripping onto his face. "What the Hell?" he mumbled.

He opened his eyes to see Jack' face hovering above his. Jack jerked his face away as quickly as possible. "Sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up like that."

"Jack what're you doing?"

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to get a good look at your face. "You're," he paused, "really handsome in the mornings."

A blush spread around Crutchie's face like a virus, revealing all of his feelings before he could choose to. Of course Crutchie was beautiful in the mornings, he had the looks of a prince, he was supposed to be beautiful at all times. Still, Crutchie couldn't imagine anyone finding him good looking, especially someone as good looking as Jack, when Crutchie was still filthy from his unplanned swim and dragging across the fish gut plastered dock of the castle. Somehow Jack found that good looking, or he was lying.

"Thank you, you don't look too bad yourself."

Jack smiled toothily in response to Crutchie's compliment. "I have something I wanna show you, but we need to get the shackles off your wrists first."

"Oh thank God," Crutchie said. He had more to say about the manacles coming off but he didn't want to complain to Jack.

Unfortunately for Crutchie's plans, Jack noticed his silence. "What's wrong?" Jack asked, reaching for Crutchie's hands.

"It's nothing," Crutchie lied.

"No tell me," Jack gently prodded.

"It's just, I'm feeling really stiff from how I had to sleep with these on." To fortify his point he lifted his still chained wrists, the chains made a clinking noise as he raised them up to Jack's eye level.

"I'm sorry," Jack said. "We're going to get them off soon, that is, if you're up for a swim."

He'd phrased it as a question, but also as a challenge. It was a challenge that Crutchie was unsure he wanted to take. Despite this, he trusted Jack enough, over the short time that he'd known him, to be willing leave his comfort zone and accept his challenge.

"Let's do it!" he enthused, "I'm ready."

"Wonderful!" Jack all but pulled Crutchie from the bed and into his lap. As it turns out, Jack was sitting in a wheelchair. It was quite clever actually, give the boy with a tail for legs a wheelchair so that he could navigate land more easily, not that is _was_ easy. Still, it was easier then trying to drag his lower body around the floor, and more dignified as well.

"What're you doing Jack?" Crutchie asked.

" I'm carrying you to where we're going." Jack managed to wheel the pair out of the room without waking Davey. They travelled through the kitchen and out the front door. Jack wheeled them so far that Crutchie's legs were beginning to become sore from the sitting. Finally they stopped at the edge of the pier.

"Jack what're we doing here?" Crutchie questioned.

"Do you trust me?" Jack asked.

"I really don't see what that has to do with it."

"We have to jump in, just once though. I won't let you drown." Jack made the promise so seriously that Crutchie could not doubt him.

 _Once, just once,_ Crutchie thought. _We only have to take the plunge once._ "I trust you Jack, do it."

With that Jack shoved them out of the wheelchair and into the black water, sinking into its depths.


	5. Chapter 5

Jack felt a sickening sense of déjà vu as he swept Crutchie back in his arms again. Fortunately this time Jack had gotten there right away, he prevented his drowning by more than sheer luck and coincidence. Jack's tail stirred the dim water as he pressed his lips to Crutchie's. Jack longed for an open to push his lips to the prince's without the circumstances of being underwater and the ever present possibility that Crutchie would drown.

Crutchie opened his eyes to look at Jack. Jack watched him struggling with the saltwater, for he lacked Jack's jelly-thick eye fluid to protect his delicate human eyes. Jack reached out with his hand to touch Crutchie's eyelids, gently, with his webbed fingers he rendered Crutchie's eyelids shut.

Jack pushed oxygen into Crutchie's lungs by filtering it through his gills. On any other day Jack hated his gills, they were proof of his illegitimate conception, but when swimming with a human they came in handy. A dolphin and a fish, what a strange pairing Jack's parents were, not that he knew which was which. Jack could not recall his parents, try as he might. While she hadn't been the one to spawn him, he had always seen Medda as a mother, she'd raised him for the majority of his childhood.

Jack would need to make quick work of the swim, the longer he swam with Crutchie meant the longer they'd both need to tolerate only taking half-breaths. Unlike Crutchie, Jack knew exactly where they were going. Though he seemed quite impulsive, Jack did tend to plan things. Jack had talked to his friends Spot and Race beforehand.

Race was a nurse shark, but even for a nurse shark he was small. He measured nearly ten feet from the tip of his tail to the top of his head but he was very thin and lacked power in his bite. He was being harassed by a pack of dolphins when Jack had first met him. They were biting him and knocking him around in the water. The attack was was quite vicious until Jack stepped in; he'd managed to make the dolphins go away.

Race had wounded pride after the attack, he wouldn't willingly accept further help from Jack. He hadn't wanted anyone's help, not even from his boyfriend Spot. He didn't want the injuries to show, he had made a poor job of hiding the damage though.

Jack's visit wasn't for Racetrack though, he required a visit with Spot. Spot was a bull shark with the most powerful bite of any shark he had known. Jack had once seen Spot fight a whale that'd encroached in his territory one too many times, one bite from Spot sent it swimming far away. There was no doubt in Jack's mind that Spot could break the crude metal currently binding Crutchie's hands.

Though the couple knew Jack and Crutchie were coming, when Crutchie saw two sharks swimming towards them he panicked. Jack had to drag him to the pair despite him making attempts to jerk away. Race held put his pale fingers for Crutchie to take, with hesitation he did. Jack swam above Crutchie, managing to keep out of the couple's way.

Race eased Crutchie into Spreading his hands apart then backed away. Crutchie flinched at Spot's approach but did not try to move away from him. He tensed as Spot spread his jaw but when he bit down on the chains he relaxed. It took two chomps to break the chain and one bite for each wrist cuff. The mangled remains of the handcuffs sank in the water and Crutchie's wrists were finally free.

Jack thanked Spot and Race before helping to carry Crutchie up to the surface. Their heads broke into the night air and Jack strained to pull them back onto the dock.


	6. Chapter 6

Jack was undoubtedly strong both mentally and physically, but water was his element, not land. He could have outswam the fasted ships around if he were alone, but pulling himself and Crutchie up onto the dock was harder than it looked because he was out of breath and out of water. He was a literal fish out of water, well he was part fish.

Fortunately Crutchie was able to pull himself onto the dock. Crutchie had very strong arms, something most would never notice. Once he was on the dock Crutchie laid down and extended his newly-freed hands towards the water. Jack took his hands and was lifted from the water and onto the dock.

Once on dry land they laid on the dock taking deep breaths. "That was the wildest thing that's ever happened to me," Crutchie gasped.

"Did you have fun?"

"At first I thought you were trying to drown me, then I thought you were trying to feed me to sharks."

"Don't be silly, Race and Spot are sweethearts. They eat fish, not humans."

"Are they friends of your's?"

"They is actually, they'se like brothers to me."

The two simply smiled and breathed before Crutchie's teeth started to chatter in the crisp night air. "Are you cold?" Jack asked innocently.

Crutchie spoke, "not all of us were made to tolerate cold water Jack."

"Let's back to Davey's so that we can get you warm." Jack reached for his wheelchair and pulled himself into the seat. He rolled over to Crutchie who used it to help him stand tried and failed to gently lower himself onto Jack's lap, instead losing his balance and balance and falling onto him. Jack chuckled before leaning in and putting a lukewarm kiss onto Crutchie's jaw. Crutchie leaned back, content to study the transition from Jack's beige human skin to the grey dolphin skin of his tail.

Crutchie touched the beginnings of Jack's tail, right on his hip, gently with his shaking fingers. Jack wrapped his own fingers around Crutchie's. "You impress me," Crutchie whispered. "You simply amaze me."

Jack finally decided to familiarize himself with the texture of Crutchie's lips above water. The sun rose in the distance, warming the kissing pair's skin while their hearts were warmed by each other.


	7. Chapter 7

Crutchie shivered violently in Jack's arms. Jack was usually so good at remembering that humans' needs were different than those of mermaids, but in his joy from being with Crutchie he had completely forgotten how humans had such intolerance of cold temperatures.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked.

"I'm f-f-f-f-fine," he stammered through chattering teeth and quaking lips.

"No you're not, you's freezin' cold and your lips is turned blue." The sunlight of dawn had done very little to warm Crutchie's body; he felt the chill of the cold air on moist flesh down to his bones. The intolerable temperatures were agitating his broken ribs and always aching leg. "We should get you back to Davey's now," Jack noted.

The pair wheeled down the cobbled streets, the bumpy roads doing nothing to ease Crutchie's discomfort. Each bump sent jolts to his ribs and back. As they rolled over an especially large bump crossing onto the dike Crutchie's system was positively shocked.

The exhaustion was getting to Crutchie. He blinked slowly and leaned back to rest on Jack's shoulder. He began to drift into unconsciousness before Jack shook him. "Hey, you need to stay awake. If you fall asleep now I won't have any company on the way home."

"You're just scared that if I fall asleep I'll freeze to death and you won't notice," Crutchie accused pessimistically.

As the light of the sun rose slowly in the sky Jack witnessed the stoic pessimism beneath Crutchie's kind nature, seeing him in a different light. Jack's conceptions of the boy were completely shattered by the few words he likely wouldn't remember after falling asleep at Davey's house. Jack could tell that Crutchie would always be kind, but there was something inside him that had stiffened and toughened under adversity. Jack knew the feeling.

He pushed the chair faster than he ever had. He raced to Davey's and was relieved to see the doorstep. He rolled up the ramp they had installed for Jack's convenience. Jack opened the front door and rolled down the hall that lead to David's bedroom.

When they drew near the bed Crutchie rose from the chair and hopped into the bed. He twisted his body to face Jack's. "Thank you for helping me tonight. Please make sure that you thank Race and Spot for me."

"Of course, I was glad to." He fidgeted with his hands for a moment. "I really enjoy spending time with you. Do you think we could share the bed tonight? I know it might be a little cramped but-" Crutchie interrupted him by pulling him out of the chair and into the bed with his strong arms. "Shh!" Jack stage whispered, "Davey isn't that light of a sleeper.

Crutchie did something that Jack expected was to bold for him. He kissed Jack passionately. Jack melted into the touch. "God you're beautiful," Crutchie stated suavely.

 _Oh no_ , Jack thought, _I'm in love._


	8. Chapter 8

Crutchie had fallen asleep shortly after the kiss with Jack, or else he was a very good pretender. Jack law awake, his mind was far too busy and refused to calm. He lay with his arms wrapped around the lovely boy in the humid air. The heat of their adjoining bodies raised the temperature of the sheets that were damp with the residual water that'd clung to the boys when they got into the blankets. Crutchie made a contented _mm_ noise and Jack could only imagine the trace of a smile ghosting the other boy's lips.

Jack had only felt this safe and loved a few times before in his life and previously they had all involved Medda. Sure Jack loved all his friends but with the others there was always the obligation to comfort them, Medda comforted him and didn't accept comfort from him, Jack never actually knew if Medda could use some comfort or not, but with Crutchie the comfort was mutual. Jack never felt like he had to be parenting Crutchie or selfish, they enjoyed each other equally. Unless Crutchie didn't enjoy his company.

 _What if Crutchie doesn't enjoy my company?_ Jack's stomach churned. _I've been too busy making sure I was a good time and I never even asked him how he felt about his company. But he kissed me, so that must mean he likes me right?_ _**Wrong**_ _. He's stringing you along because he feels bad for you. His affections will die by morning because you drive people away. It's just for one night, like all your relationships._

Jack bit back a sob. He stared into the back of the boy who lay beside him. Before his back had felt like physical proof that Crutchie was there for him, now it felt like an impenetrable wall that separated the pair. Jack rolled onto his side so that he faced the wall instead of Crutchie. It was fair to say that Jack found no sleep that night.


	9. Chapter 9

Katherine stayed in her seaside kingdom grieving. Her brother had died, or at least that's what her parents had said. At first he'd gone missing but no one knew where he'd gone or what had happened. Then her father told her that Crutchie had fallen off the pier, that he'd drowned. That was bullshit and Katherine knew it. There was not enough evidence to prove what her father had said about Crutchie. Katherine had no intention to believe her father's blatant lies.

So Katherine did what she thought every sister would have, and sniffed around the spot where he'd "fallen in". The water of course betrayed no secrets. The ocean was the most powerful thing on Earth and it could swallow anyone without a trace. It didn't matter if the person was a prince that people would be expected to bow to; the ocean bows to no one. It didn't matter if the person was Katherine's best friend and the only thing stopping her from burning the palace to the ground; the ocean didn't care. Katherine hated the ocean.

Still, even if the ocean gave no clues, Crutchie would. Her brother was disabled, he carried a wooden crutch, and wood floated. That crutch should have been found. The part of the pier wasn't even particularly accessible to her brother. The only way to reach it was up a steep narrow staircase frequented by sailors. Mud had been tracked up each step along with other filth; the stairs were the prime place for a crutch to slip and a boy to fall into the water. That's probably why Pulitzer said he'd fallen there. That's probably why he considered it to be a convenient lie.

But Katherine could see no reason for Crutchie to try and go down those stairs; he had no business there and he knew better than to risk it for the view.

Katherine addressed her concerns with her father but his response only further infuriated her. "Katherine dearest, your brother has always been so sad and sickly. It's quite possible he intended to fall in. Even if it was an accident, does it really matter? He'd never take the throne, not truly, for no one would respect a crippled king."

Katherine had to be escorted kicking and screaming from her father's office by the Delancey brothers. She couldn't remember all that she had said but according to Hannah she had cursed him and said he never cared about Crutchie anyways and was glad that he was dead. All true of course but not the best thing to say to your father if you don't want him to stop your investigation.

Katherine wasn't going to stop investigating solely because her father had dismissed her. What kind of sister would she be if she did? Katherine's next step was to start finding potential witnesses.

The next morning she started asking people at the pier if they'd seen a boy with a crutch on the same day that Crutchie had disappeared. None of them had. It seemed to Katherine that her brother had never actually been to the pier.

Katherine needed to find out what had actually happened, if not for Crutchie then for herself. Katherine couldn't find peace until she knew what happened; there wasn't even a body. Her last moments with her brother were after their mother had given birth. It had been exhausting, such a long birth, and it had taken a toll on everybody, not just their mother. The baby was healthy, he emerged in the world screaming and covered in his mother's blood. It was almost visceral. There was no love in the birth. To the Queen and King he was just a piece in their political chess game. To Charlie and Katherine he was a threat. It was not that they didn't love their new brother or at least believe that they would come to love him; rather, the threat was that their parents thought that they were not good enough and wished to replace them.

Katherine was out of clues and felt a deep loneliness aching in her soul, exhausting her. Katherine missed her brother; his absence was excruciating. She wanted to break down in tears. She wanted to be as close to him as possible; she settled for the next best thing.

Katherine climbed the staircase that lead to her brother's bedroom. She had always thought it was cruel to make him climb all those steps every day, especially when his leg hurt like it did. The move was intentional on her parents' parts. He reached the top of the stairs and was enraged by what she saw. In her brother's room the Oscar and Morris Delancey were rooting through his things.

"What the fuck are you doing?" she screamed, "I could have you fired for this! I could have you _executed_ for this?"

Oscar ran; Morris did too but he slipped over an expensive ring of Crutchie's that his brother had dropped. _Oh well, Crutchie always hated that ring anyways. No loss._ Oscar didn't even come back for Morris. _Coward._ Katherine would take advantage of his cowardice and lack of loyalty. Katherine picked Morris up by his shirt collar and pinned him against the wall. "Where the fuck is my brother?"

"Katherine, Katherine I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I did it because Oscar made me."

"What the fuck did you bastards do?"

"It was K-King Pulitzer; he hired us and Warden Snyder to the kill the cripple."

"The _cripple_? His name was Charlie; you killed my little brother at least say his name."

"Charlie. We took him out to see and threw him in. He never came up to the surface."

"You're a monster." Katherine knew she couldn't report him to her father or to the warden because they were in on it. She let go of her shirt collar. It didn't matter regardless.

A few moments later an iron grip crushed her shoulder and pulled her. She whirled around and was face to face with one of the most cruel men she knew, Warden Snyder. She tried to scream but he covered her mouth with his hand. She bit him and he slammed her head against the wall.

She was too dazed to fight back and they dragged her down to the castle jail by her hair. Despite the fire on her scalp she couldn't scream. She felt powerless, and it was terrifying.


	10. Chapter 10

Crutchie woke up to Jack pushed tightly up against his body. He smiled warmly. He felt as if nothing could ever pull him from the serenity of the moment. He rolled over to face Jack, as he did he noted that the bedroom was empty of David and Les. It was good to have some privacy. Jack looked at Jack's beautiful face, so peaceful in sleep. Crutchie wanted to kiss him. _Just a small kiss couldn't hurt. Soft on the lips or tender on the forehead._ Jack looked like a magnificent god of the ocean to Crutchie; he almost cried at his stunning features.

Crutchie resisted the urge to kiss Jack, deciding it was better to wait for him to wake up. Fortunately, it didn't take long for him to wake up because Davey softly knocked on the door and gently called to them. "Hey fellas it's breakfast time."

Jack groaned loudly and Davey quietly shut the door on the freshly awakened boys. Crutchie sat up and got out of bed. He leaned against the wall and managed to grab Jack's wheelchair and bring it to Jack's side of the bed. "No," he whined, "let me sleep." Crutchie finally decided to indulge in the kiss he'd been craving. He leaned in and felt Jack's salty lips against his. It felt electrifying and despite being quite chaste both boys could feel the sparks between them during the kiss. "Suddenly I feel very awake," Jack informed him breathily.

Crutchie smiled at him. "I'm glad I could help." Crutchie paused. "Do you think Davey has some clothes he's let me borrow.

Jack glanced at Crutchie's blood stained clothes; the swims with Jack had done greatly to reduce the pigmentation of the reddish-brown blood stains on Crutchie's white shirt, but they still remained. The other problem with the clothes was that they were still wet and were making Crutchie very cold now that he was away from Jack's body heat. "Check the top drawer for a shirt and the bottom for pants. If I were you I'd look for the biggest shirt in the drawer because your build's bigger than his; you'll definitely need to roll up the pants legs because Dave's a lot taller than us.

Crutchie blushed all the way up to his ears and then some. "Are you saying I'm well built?" he teased.

"Why yes I am." Jack smiled.

"Get out so I can change, and please make sure that David's okay with me borrowing his clothes."

"You got it handsome." Jack wheeled out of the room. A minute later he yelled back. "Davey says you're good to go."

"Thanks," he called. Crutchie found a pale green shirt in the drawer that looked too big for David anyways. He pulled his own shirt off weakly. He made a small noise from pain as he lifted the shirt above his head. Crutchie surveyed the damage to his body with apprehension in the mirror. The scrape had scabbed over in a nasty greenish color, and sickening bruises impressed upon his abdomen like enlarged purple stamps. He hid them under the shirt; he found that he did not like the way he looked in green.

Crutchie found a tan pair of pants and replaced the still damp ones around his legs with them. They were too tight around the waist and too long on the legs, but at least they were dry and warm enough. _I look a fool,_ he thought. _How could I possibly present myself like this?_

"Crutchie you coming?" he heard Jack call him. That was enough to coax him from the room and into the dining room. Davey, Sarah, Jack, and Les were all comfortably situated around the table waiting for him. They each had a plate of eggs and toast; there was even one laid out for him. He sat down.

"Now we can begin," Sarah allowed, and all the boys dug into their meals as soon as the words slipped from her mouth.

…

When they had all finished their meals; and Crutchie's stomach swelled from fullness he decided to broach the conversation about him returning to the mainland.

"I've got something to tell you, Jack already knows."

"What is it?" Davey asked, full of concern.

"So on the mainland I'm not just a guy, my father's the king." He hesitated at calling himself a prince, he doubted that he was welcome to the position anymore. "And he tried to have me killed. I need to go home, my sister Katherine is still there and I've got a new little brother I don't want to leave with my parents. They'll ruin him."

"Is this really true Crutchie?" Sarah asked in surprise.

"It's true." It was done. Crutchie had finally stopped hiding who he really was and from the looks on his friends' faces they believed him.


	11. Chapter 11

_Liars are easy to spot_ , Katherine thought. _Delancies lie._ Katherine knew as soon as Morris had said her brother was dead that he wasn't telling the truth, even if he thought he was. Dead bodies float. _They float. Crutches float and boys float and Morris would have seen Crutchie come up to the surface if he had really drowned. Liar. But why lie about it?_

Katherine had a wretched headache from the grief and the obsession over floating bodies and floating crutches. _Floating Crutchie._ Her mind rejected the mental image like spitting out poison. Her headache was only intensified by the pain in her scalp where the hair had been torn out by the root and the groaning emanating from the person in the neighboring cell. The presence of other people's suffering made it hard for Katherine to focus on her own though.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

They didn't reply.

"I'm Katherine. What's your name?"

"You know who I am," mumbled a soft voice. "What're you doing here Katherine?"

"Spence? Is that you?"

"No, it's Sponce," he drawled sarcastically.

"Haha very funny, glad to see you haven't lost your sense of humor Spencer." She paused a moment before asking, "How did you get here?"

"I asked first," he replied.

"My dad had me thrown in here," she answered sadly.

"Hey that's funny because your dad had me thrown in here too."

"For what."

"Blackmail. You?"

"Being too nosy. He did something bad to my brother and I wanted to know what."

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Spence, how long have you been in here?"

"I don't know." Katherine heard him shifting to get closer to his cell bars. "They haven't let me out. I don't even know if it's night or day?"

"It's—" Katherine cut herself off. "I don't know." She drew up closer to the edge of her cell as well. "What's the last thing you remember before you got here?"

"It was your birthday. My father and I sailed in a few days before to talk trade deals, but your dad didn't like my dad's offer and he had me thrown in here to force his hand. Happy birthday Katherine. Sorry I didn't get to say it on the day of."

"I missed you at my party," she said.

"Well I was here. I had a gift for you too."

"Spence I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" he asked.

"My birthday was three months ago."

"Oh. That's a long time." Katherine heard a sniff come from his cell that sounded like a suppressed sob.

"Were you alone this whole time? Did Snyder hurt you?"

"I wasn't alone. He spends a lot of time down here. With me." Katherine took that as proof enough that Snyder had hurt Spencer. "He makes me draw pictures and write letters for my father to prove I'm not dead."

"I'll get you out of here Spencer. I promise."

"I doubt it," he whispered across the bars too quietly to warrant a reply from Katherine.

A loud creak and a shock of light came from the door as Snyder opened it. He stepped inside his dungeon, her father followed.

Tsk tsk tsk. "Look what you've done Katherine. You just couldn't leave well enough alone could you?" Pulitzer taunted his daughter.

"Your son is missing, maybe dead. You call that well enough father?"

"Well enough for me at least Darling. Isn't that enough? Why can't you be happy for your father Katherine?"

"Why can't you let your children live father?"

"That's the point Katherine. I now have a child worth life Katherine. Come join your mother and I; we'll be happy to welcome you back into the fold as long as you give up this nonsense about your brother."

"Goodbye father," Katherine managed to say with a clear voice.

"I suppose it would be quite suspicious for me to lose two children to accidents in such a short period of time. I expect that saying the grief made you do it will satisfy the people." He turned to leave the dank prison, with his hand poised on the doorknob he said, "Make it look convincing if you wouldn't mind Warden."

"It would be my pleasure Your Grace." Pulitzer exited the dungeon, shutting the door without a slam.

Snyder turned on Katherine with the grin of a ravenous wolf. "Hello little princess," he sneered.

Spencer, who had managed to keep quiet for the duration of the conversation finally spoke up. "Keep away from her!"

"Shut your mouth, unless you'd like to lose the other eye too!" Snyder snapped."

Things seemed to be moving in slow motion for Katherine, it was like watching the world move in one quarter speed. Like she had all the time in the world.

Snyder fumbled with a match, then lit a candle. Through the dim light she saw him lurch towards her cell clutching a ring of keys; he had set the candle on a table. Spence was staring at her in horror, his right eye red and inflamed. She knew what Snyder meant when he threatened to take Spence's other eye now. Snyder jammed the key into the lock and turned it.

Things stopped moving in slow motion for Katherine, they sped up like a racing horse. She could feel her heart twisting in her chest. Later in life, when she reflected on these moments they were a blur. She remember the lurch of his step as he approached and she remembered racing away afterwards, but she couldn't give a detailed narrative of what happened in between. While Katherine couldn't explain what happened after the assault well, during the attack each detail was perfectly clear.

Snyder turned the key and entered the cell. "Get up Little Princess," he commanded.

Katherine wanted to defy him, but she felt her legs betray her. Her knees shook so violently that they bounced against each other.

"Come quietly Little Princess, or your feeble buddy will be sorry."

"Katherine you don't have to," Spence pleaded.

"It's okay," she whispered.

Snyder wrapped his vice like grip around her arm surely bruising it. He shoved her out of the cell and dragged her up the stairs. When they passed the first set of palace guards he released her and whispered. "Remember that I'm allowed to do this. If you make a scene in front of them your father will just have them killed too." He stared her down. "Nod at me; she me you understand."

Katherine nodded infinitesimally.

"Good thinking." He continued to lead her through the castle against her will. He finally stopped outside her bedroom door before shoving her inside. She pushed her onto her bed and pulled a knife out of his belt. "Give me your arm," he demanded.

She made no move to extend her arm, so Snyder grabbed it. He was about to scrape the blade from her elbow to her wrist but Katherine finally broke out of her stupor. She used her free hand to snatch the knife and drive it into his chest before running out of the room, leaving the weapon in Snyder's imminent corpse. She ran back in, snatched his keys, and sprinted out again. She attempted to charge back into the dungeon for Spence, but was seized by a castle guard.

"Let go of me you fool. I'm a princess! Put me down or you'll pay for it!" The shocked young man unhandled her and she continued to race down towards the dungeon. She heard him call out "Princess Katherine," as she rounded the corner.

She used her freshly acquired keys to open the dungeon. "Kathy!" Spencer called out. She fumbled with the keys, trying each one on his cell door until one finally made the lock click. It took several minutes.

"Kathy?" Spence raised an eyebrow.

"I got it; I got it," Katherine insisted.

"You sure about that?" a voice questioned from behind her.

Katherine's head swiveled around at record speeds to face the new arrival, it was the guard who stopped her. "Fuck," she said.

"Wait Princess I'm sorry for following you; I was just— You just looked— I thought you," the guard stammered. "Here let me do it."

Katherine was too stunned to argue and stepped out of his way dociley. He managed to open the cell door in only a few tries. Spencer stepped out of the cell but tripped over his own foot. Luckily, the guard caught him in his arms. Spencer looked up at his knight in shining armor, "I'm Spencer," he breathed out.

"Romeo."

"Oh my God," Katherine groaned, "and I'm the one who just got the keys, and I'm a fugitive, and so is he," she pointed at Spencer, "and so are you now that you helped us," she said addressing Romeo.

"Oh damn," he said. Spencer straightened up and managed to stand without Romeo's help.

"Yeah, oh damn," Katherine agreed. "Can you help us get out of here Romeo?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Of course." Spencer grinned at him lopsidedly.

 _Not with that smile I don't,_ Romeo thought. "Follow me," he said, and led them out of the dark.


End file.
